Alcohol and Other Drugs

What is the problem?

Drinking and Driving

Drinking and driving remains a serious problem in Minnesota: 

  • In 2007, the National Safety Council conservatively estimated the cost of alcohol-related crashes in Minnesota to be $314 million.
  • Alcohol-related traffic deaths make up about one-third of all traffic crash deaths in Minnesota. 
  • In 2004, almost three percent of Minnesota adults self-reported alcohol-impaired driving. Minnesota adults are more likely to report alcohol-impaired driving than adults nationally.
  • One in four of our high school seniors reported driving after using alcohol or other drugs and even more rode with friends who had been using.

Drinking and Driving --  Data Sources:

Minnesota Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety, Crash Facts 2007 St. Paul, Minnesota 2008.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008.

Minnesota Student Survey